Battle of the Joshes

It’s an off day, but it’s really game on! The KABC ThinkCure auction package, which allows a fan to spend the day following around Josh Suchon, got a $375 bid last night during the Sunday Night Sports Final, which means “the other Josh” is now ahead of our Inside the Dodgers package. As promised, each day I’ll be rolling out another perk of this online auction prize, with all the proceeds going to find a cure for cancer. Today, I’m rolling out a couple.

– And of course, while I can’t make any 100 percent guarantees, I’m going to quietly mention that just about every day of my job requires me to interact with all of the Dodger broadcasters, including Vin Scully, Jaime Jarrin, Rick Monday, Charley Steiner, Fernando Valenzuela, Pepe Yniguez and Steve Lyons. You might take note that the package to visit Vin in his booth is currently going for almost $3,000 while this one is still at $260.

One thing I can’t say you’ll get to do is take part in tonight’s fourth annual Dodgers Dream Foundation Bowling Extravaganza at Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood. We’ve got a dozen players heading over there tonight on the off day, including the hosts, Brad Penny and James Loney. If any of you are taking part in this, I hope to see you there.

Plus, during the day, Manny Mota is hosting his annual golf tournament to raise money for his incredible foundation in the Dominican Republic.

Lots of great things going on for those who are into charitable giving these days…and as Vin Scully said following Nomar’s homer in the four-homer game back in ’06 – “Oh, and I forgot to mention, the Dodgers are in first place!”

It would be fun to put Boras on the other end (GM) and see how he uses the exact same stats he uses now to make a player seem better than he is, to tear him down instead.

He did have a point with J.D. Drew. The money Nerd saved on Drew he wasted on JP, and even a bad Drew is better than an average JP. I could’ve lived with Ethier, Drew and Kemp. Boras totally missed the boat with Gagme though. Of course, Ned threw away another $48 mil on Schmidt.

And where’s Boras’ training center for Andruw?? If Boras is so much the altruistic baseball overseer, how could he let The Blob get in the kind of [non]shape he was/is in for not only the signing team, but for the athlete himself? I don’t see either one of them trying to rectify that situation.

Bottom line is, Boras is in the business for Boras period. If his clients make a lot of money, he makes a lot of money.

I agree, enchanted. Before he got “hurt” we heard on the radio that Boras was speaking to Joe about him. At the time, they thought maybe it was to send him down, I guess they need his permission, or perhaps, even better a way out of Dodger Stadium permanently.

OK Josh, you actually inspired this one……and I hope you like the song of choice!

To AC/DC’s “Hells Bells”

I’m a rolling thunder, a pouring rain
I’m comin’ on like a hurricane
My change up’s flashing across the plate
I’m not too young but you’re gonna die
I won’t take no prisoners, won’t give no hits
You won’t be able to up a fight
I got the ball, I’m gonna strike you out, pal
I’m gonna get you, Hoffman’ll get you

The eighteenth of September, two thousand and six
We had the Dodgers down, 10-6 in the ninth
This game’s as good as over, I won’t pitch tonight
Then Kent hit one to left,
Then JD Drew to the right
I come in to the game, won’t spare no lives
Russ Martin kills my first pitch tonight
Then oh my God, Marlon kills the next one too
We take the lead back, Nomar wins it!

As far as Andruw goes, I still don’t know how ANY GM could’ve looked at him and seen what kind of shape he was in, and still gone ahead and signed him. Must have been some pretty powerful snakeoil Boras was selling. Still, you’d think somehow there’s a breach of contract. If not and I’m the GM, there’s a “conditioning” clause that would get written into every contract I gave from now on.

It was on talk radio after we were leaving a game (stuck in the parking lot) and right after Manny got here. They had no where to put Andruw and the guys were saying that because Jones is such a “star” you would have to get his permission to send him to AAA. I guess, you can’t send him down, like he was a rookie. I remember the same thing happened to Jason Giambi when he was struggling with the Yankees and he refused. I know there isn’t a team out there who wants him so, I guess we are the losers.

I blame myself for yesterday’s scare. My buddy and I had tickets to Jethro Tull at the Greek and our fail-safe time was approching to meet friends, etc.. I figured we’d leave with one out in the 9th–and I can’t remember the last time I left a game early. So…Johnson gets the lead-off strike-out and we leave. There was no radio in sight as we exited Reserve level and all we could hear was the stadium crowd noise. A few cheers, lots of groans, and no “I LOVE L.A.” to be heard. Very strange feeling. I park outside near the Police Academy and when I finally turned on the car radio there was a commercial. Figured Dodgers won. Then I hear Steiner, which is bad no matter what time it is! So Ethier’s walk-off was enjoyed as we roilled toward Los Feliz. What a drag. Best ninth inning of the year…and I walk. So, gang, it’s on me. And of course, I’m thinking again of the collective female IT orgasm over their ever-so-cute Andre!!! And Ian Anderson was as maniacal as ever.

Good Afternoon ITD writers and readers!!!
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eric ~ School is great!! Class seems to be really good, but like all classes, we are in the honeymoon phase for a couple weeks, and then the real colors start to show. These first few days it’s all about no crying and no bathroom accidents. I do have one student who has Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome which is rare bone marrow disease that affects his digestion and overall development. He is a “Make a Wish” child, so this will be a rewarding year just in making his year enjoyable.
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kahli ~ Unbelievable story – too funny!!!! and yes, I believe it was collective, and it cost dcollins’ wife a trip to the emergency room.
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eric again~ FABULOUS SONG!!!!
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trublue ~ I am not a cronie, and I BTW – I haven’t written a song in a while. I will have to look into that – no JP/Torre love anymore to write about – hmmmm!! I will have to think of something fun for Mr. Ethier himself.
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Speaking of Andre ~ some of my class already knew who he was just from the last couple of days. They were looking at the pictures of him, and one of the little boys said, “Didn’t he hit a home run yesterday?” and I said, “He sure did!” I will show them the highlight before we go home.

I’m going to try one of these days. I’ll get some tips from Miss Debbie. This whole experience of talking baseball among other things is like an addiction for me. I used to tease my younger daughter because she used to chat into wee hours of the morning all the time. I thought she was crazy — now the tables are turned. The other night at dinner Deb & I were saying how funny it was when everyone was losing their identities. We were cracking up over it and our families thought we had lost our minds.

After Ethier’s performance this weekend, there is only one explanation possible for Pierre batting leadoff in this coming Wednesday night game against Francis and the Rockies. . .
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sing to Happy Together by the Turtles (from JoJo’s point of view).
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Happy Together
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Imagine me and Phew, I do
I think about Phew day and night
It’s only right
To think about the Phew I love
And bat him now
At leadoff whenever
If I should lead Phew off
And sit Andre
And Phew says Phew belongs to me
And make my day
Imagine how my world could be
And care what may
So happy together
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I can’t see me loving nobody but Phew
For all my life
When Phew’s with me
Baby the skies will be blue
For all my life
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Me and Phew
And Phew and me
No matter how Dre hits the ball
It has to be
The only one for me is Phew
And Phew for me
So happy together
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Me and Phew
And Phew and me
No matter how Dre hits the ball
It has to be
The only one for me is Phew
And Phew for me
So happy together
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So happy together
How is your mother?
So happy together
We’re happy together
So happy together…

Regardless of the result of the Dodgers’ resurgence this year, they will be stuck with Druw for $18 million next year and Phew for $9 million per year for three more years.
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Given the maturation of Kemp, the consistency of Ethier, and the (I’m hoping here) signing of Manny for 3-4 years, they really need neither Druw nor Phew. What to do with them? If Druw comes back strong next spring, he could be trade bait or an awesome 4th outfielder (that’s pretty optimistic given where he is today). Phew just does not give the team much off the bench.

Thanks to whoever it was that pointed me to the main mlb.com page to log in and edit my profile. The ten-character limit on nicknames is totally lame. “wmostnflvr” loses all the impact and “oldfogey” is an already-taken nickname! So I’ll go with this – at least for now. Glad winflavor gave so many laughs; trublue: it’s all yours!

crash24 – the reality may be a little worse. The distribution of Jones’ money is over three years; $5M of the bonus gets paid in 2010. Salary + bonus for Jones over the three years is $14.1M, $17.1, $5M. For Pierre: $8M, $10M, $10M, $8.5M.
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So the Dodgers get to pay this for Pierre and Jones :
2008 – $22.1M
2009 – $27.1M
2010 – $15M (with Jones gone, barring a miraculous comeback not seen since the days of Lazarus)
2011 – $8.5 (Slappy only)

Because I left the stadium early yesterday and have already cursed myself, I just watched the replay. First off, Loney gets no blame. Tough play. But with Kuo and Broxton unavailable (according to the manager) why pull Johnson (a STARTING pitcher) after 2 1/3 becasue he gives up a weak, seeing-eye grounder up the middle? I won’t belabor the point because hindsight is 20/20 and who cares, anyway. But NO ONE in the press questioned Uncle Joe about it because the Dodgers won. But imagine the hate crimes had the Dodgers lost that game. Joe would have been skewered. Well, maybe, that is. For some unexplainable reason Uncle Joe has been a media darling all year, in spite of his obsessive line-up juggling and Pierre man crush.

Porklinks/fogey/western –
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Now all the Dodgers need is an Andrew Fastow (Enron) type that can form an off-shore company (or team) where they can sit all of their high-priced liabilities – Phew, Andruw, Schmidt, etc.

westernmost/oldfogey ~ Sorry about laughing at the “winflavor” name, but it was starting to grow on me, and then you go and change it to “porklinks” – LOL
Miss Debbie ~ ethieraholic
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Crash ~ That song is fabulous!!!! Ethieriffic!!!!!!!

Oh Josh!!
you are making it hard to resist so I’ll make another bid. but, but, I am planning another road trip…still I’ll bid.
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Sunday I woke up sore from the WIn baseball clinic and even today I am still sore. Kent was funny as usual at the event and he also said “don’t believe everything you read on the paper”. He was catching some of us in the bullpen when we were attemping to pitch. one guy approached to tell me “I did not know Jeff was a nice guy.”. Anyway, they separated us in groups and the group that I was in, I decided to ask out loud “Anyone here named Amy?” to my surprise, I heard someone said “yes, me”. I asked if she posted on ITD blog, and she said “yes”, so I found her!. Too funny that we ended up in the same group. I told the story to Josh when he came on the field. We had 203 fans participating. I had a great time!
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Amy,
In case you are reading here, I took pictures of you while you asked your question at the Q&A. You did a good job!

Hey guys, how’s everyone this afternoon? I have an update from last nights 51’s game…. Andruw went 0-3 witha ground into a dp, Delwyn also went 0-3… I’m not sure what to expect from Andruw for the rest of the year with at least 2 outfielders a head of him on the depth chart. Here’s my question…. What do we do in the offseason if we lose Blake, Manny, Lowe, Kent, possibly Penny… That’s an awful lot of replacing to be done. Anyone really nervous about any of this?

Brandon ~ I don’t think Andruw & Delwyn will brought up until the rosters expand. There isn’t any room for them right now. If we lose Manny I think it would be worse than the others, heard Kent may want to go home to Texas. They are trying DeWitt at 2nd right now. So, who knows. I’m more concerned if we have to keep Jones and Pierre next year, which we probably will. It also bothers me that Russell hasn’t signed a new contract yet either. He is really important to the team.

I’m just wondering, who do we replace those guys with, guys who can give us similar production. It’s going to be very hard to replace Manny if we lose him, and also Kent, I know he’s old, but he’s still productive when we’ve got a power hitter behind him…… Don’t tell him that though… stupid jerk thinks it’s just his ability and not the insane amount of fastballs he’s seen all of the sudden. I love Matt Kemp, but I just don’t see him ever having the same power of a Manny… Hopefully, but I just don’t know. We are obviously a much different and better team with a homerun threat in the lineup. I just hope that we don’t regress next year.

Did anyone catch Juan(they’re sticking it to me) Pierre’s reaction to the game-winning hit. Priceless.
First, he was the last Dodger to leave the dugout to congratulate Ethier. Then while Andre was lifted up, Juan stood in the background and brooded. Look for the only player not smiling: http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/
lower right corner.

Havoc, a classic shot.
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Brandon – Jettison Nomar and Kent (wants to retire anyway). Use their salary to sign up Manny. Lineup would be Kemp, Ethier, Martin, Manny, Loney, Blake, DeWitt, DeJesus/Hu. Still leaves an issue with pitching. Need to sign a FA like Sabathia.

Yeah, I agree crash… That would be the ideal plan. But do we have a plan B? Manny is really going to crucial to our success. I really do think Kemp is well on his way to being a stud, but Manny is already one of the greatest hitters of all time. WE CAN’T LOSE THIS GUY. If we have that lineup Crash, and we add a guy like CC to the rotation, along with Kershaw, Penny, Kuroda, Billz…. That’s a great team!!

Did anyone catch Juan(they’re sticking it to me) Pierre’s reaction to the game-winning hit. Priceless.
First, he was the last Dodger to leave the dugout to congratulate Ethier. Then while Andre was lifted up, Juan stood in the background and brooded. Look for the only player not smiling: http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/
lower right corner.

Crash ~ I also think Nomar and Kent will be gone. Do we just get rid of Juan and Andruw and eat their salaries? I’d love to sign a quality pitcher. Just don’t want to be stuck with another Jason Schmidt. I hope the young core of players remain. They are coming into their own and are having a good time out there every night.

TrueBlue, I agree… Thanks for the backup again from last night. My thinking is that our main concern for the offseason should be retaining the services of one Manny Ramirez. Without him right now, we’re at least a couple of games out of first, maybe more. We need to figure out what our best options are for starting pitching, and if we lose Manny…. Is their a comprable replacement out there?

Brandon ~ you are more than welcome for last night. I really think they will sign Manny. The fans will have their heads if they don’t. Anyone else out there with his abilities would cost them just as much, if not more. To tell you the truth, I don’t know of anyone else with his batting abilities.
As far as pitching goes, maybe we have another Kershaw waiting in the wings.

I think McDonald will be another good one Tru. He had a bad outing last night, but Lowe has those same kinds of outings in the bigs. I suspect young Mr. McDonald will be in the rotation come next June.

TruBlue – It’s not just Manny’s batting abilities. It’s also his willingness to share what he has learned over the course of his career with the other players. Things like how important it is to go deep in the count.
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The other thing is that the clubhouse dynamic has changed completely since Manny arrived. The media pressure is off the younger players. No more of Joe complaining about the younger players “not getting it”.
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I’m sure there are Red Sox fans that would like us to believe that the Manny dynamic will change. But I think Manny could be happy as a Dodger for a good three to four years, as long as he’s managed in such a way that he feels that he is being given his due.

So, with Billingsley; Kershaw and perhaps McDonald is a pretty good starting three. Do you think CC and Manny would require close to the same amount of money? Then again, it may be more the number of years rather than the money.

Crash ~ I feel the same way about Manny’s presence. They were talking yesterday on TBS about him taking the guys to the batting cages and having them see nothing but sliders, not so they could hit them but, just to see what they look like. So, that’s all they were fed during their warmups.

Speaking of sliders, do you suppose that all Fat Andruw Jones ever saw in the batting cage was fastballs and change ups? The guy is totally clueless on sliders this year. Kemp was the same way early in the year, but he has learned a lot during the year.

Your welcome Ward Dear ~ It’s always good to come on here and see a new song or two or three.
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crash ~ I thought the clubhouse was great when JP and Andruw were on the DL, but since Manny has come, it got even better. By what we have been seeing, the young players are reacting positively to it, and they are learning from it. Also, they are seeing what they should be doing between Manny and Blake. Before they didn’t have the role model vets to actually look at to see the difference between what is “getting it” and was isn’t. Honestly, which one of our current young players is going to take pointers from JP, Andruw or Sweeney on good batting practices (Jeff and Nomar maybe)?

You’re right, crash. Everyone thinks Manny is a flake. But, he has a great work ethic and is willing to share what he knows. Just like Maddux. Andruw thinks he’s a star and doesn’t need any help. I didn’t like him when he was in Atlanta. I know, we can give Andruw and Juan to the Giants for Lincecum. They always take our old tired ballplayers.

enchanted, I’m sorry but you are out of your mind. Sabathia is a MONSTER! He’s young, he’s a stud, he’s eating innings like they were potato chips! Sheets hasn’t had an injury-free season since 2004! Why would the Dodgers be stupid enough to sign an injury-plagued pitcher to an ex..pen……si…….., oh.

So, ajay, how was your day? I got some work done around the house, made my trip to Costco and chatted a bit. Real boring, huh? With no game tonight, we should come up with an interesting topic for discussion.

Here’s a link for the LAT article perumike mentions:http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-maddux19-2008aug19,0,465488.story
“according to a person familiar with the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced”
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My fear is that it will be too good of a prospect because McCourt won’t pay the remainder of Maddux’s salary. Blake’s cost wouldn’t have been Meloan/Santana without the dollar-squeezing.
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old fogey/westermost_in_flavor/porklinks

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how badly i wish i could have gone to the bowling thing they had today!! and how badly i wish i could bid on some of the AMAZING prizes they are selling for think cure!! but the fundage is a bit low for me… lol

Maddux doesn’t walk many batters, of course, but he doesn’t strike out many either anymore, about one out of every 8 batters faced, about 4.8 K/9, the last two seasons. That means a lot of balls in play – is that a good thing with LA’s infield defense?

If I were management, I would gladly pay ALL of Juan’s salary so the he could play on another team, especially one in the division. Juan playing everyday weakens another team as much as him playing everyday weakened ours.

Oh TruBlue you are the optimist yin to my pessimist yang. I can’t see Jeff Kent’s range suddenly improving, or the defense getting better – unless they were purposely slacking off before, and I don’t think that’s the case.

I’m not so much worried about the defense behind him Fogey. I don’t expect much more out of him than above/slightly above average 5th starter numbers anyway. I just think he’ll improve the entire pitching staff since he’s a better pitching coach than Honeycutt.

Kershaw, Troncoso, Wade, and the other rookies better watch out when Maddux arrives. He likes to impart his wisdom in many ways.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2007/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=2784095
“Maddux? For a guy with a CPA’s demeanor, he has a sense of humor that a 12-year-old would envy. Maddux is a master of strategically timed nose picking, sidling up to an unsuspecting rookie in the shower and urinating on the kid’s leg, and inventing just the right nickname for a teammate with big ears, a prominent schnozz or some other pronounced physical qualities.”

I just saw the news flash channel surfing between the Olympics, and MNF. Does anyone know who the Dodgers gave up for Maddux yet? All they said was there was a trade. It was not disclosed on who goes south. I’m hoping it was JP.

The Padres will want someone young and cheap. Our speculation doesn’t mean much unless we know who will be paying Maddux his remaining $2M. If it’s SD, the prospect is better, LA, a lesser prospect.
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Ned personally watched McDonald pitch last night. To see if he was ready, or to see if he was willing to trade him to SD? McDonald would likely have to be a “Player to be Named Later” since he’s on the 40-man and wouldn’t clear waivers – the Nats, with a worse record than the Padres, would claim him. So it’s entirely possible we won’t know who is traded until after the season ends.

THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!!! So stoked about Maddog coming back to the boys in blue!!! This guy has so much to offer the Dodgers, he is still by far one of the best 5th starters in the league, and the wisdom that he brings is amazing. This very well could be the FINAL piece to the Dodger puzzle for this year, and with what he can offer to Kershaw and other young pitchers, many more years to come. Awesome, awesome news!! Great pick up and just one more thing to get excited about Dodger fans!! I love Maddox!!

On a side note, my fiance got me his autograph ealier this year, and I was saying to myself, man I sure wish he was still a Dodger…. This is exciting!!

Maddux could be a great asset going down the stretch. I’m just hoping it wasn’t too costly. In the Dodgers past, some of these “Players to be named later” have gone on to stellar carreers elsewhere. One one hand your’e happy for their success. On the other, you think what impact there might have been for big blue.

That’s cool Brandon!!
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My friend (the Braves/A’s fan) thinks the Dodgers have become the new evil empire since our aquisition of Manny (she hates Manny), and when I mentioned the possibility of Maddux coming to LA, she said he hated it there, and that he would never go back. Well, what do you know…… It will interesting to see what she has to say. I am really excited about this, and a little anxious to know what we gave away.

vl4ecc ~ That’s exactly who she is comparing the Dodgers to. She thinks the Dodgers are no better than the Yankees in how they operate now. Obviously we disagree on the subject. I don’t say much because she is suffering enough being a fan of the A’s and Braves right now.

dnelly ~ there’s one big difference between the Yankees and Dodgers — the Dodgers no longer spend money. In fact, except for Andruw & maybe Pierre, our payroll is very meager with all the young players.

anybody know who we gave up for Maddux yet? maybe ITD land’s dreams will come true and we gave one or both players we all seem to wish we didn’t have on our team!! (you all know who i’m talking about)… am i dreaming big or is it a possibility?!?

I love to see the Yankees lose. Especially with their overpaid line up of over the hill players with their best years behind them. The Steinbrenners have proven that money can’t buy championships over the past few years. I have to tip my hat to the Rays organization. Phenominal job this year. Over all, I’m really hoping for an I-5 World series this year against the Angels. They look unstoppable in the AL. I think the biggest obstacles for the Dodgers to go win the NL pennant are the Cubs, and themselves.

trublue ~ I know, I know ~ I was a little floored by the comment, but she, being an A’s fan, has always had to be on the other side of the Manny being Manny thing when he was with Boston so I can see her dislike of him because it was never enjoyable for her to watch the Red Sox play in Oakland. Even when I went to the opening series with her, there was more Red Sox fans there than A’s fans. You would have thought we were in Boston.

Every once in a while, I may get to see a Dbacks-Cubs games on WGN from the BOB in Phoenix. There always seems to be more Cubs fans there than the regulars. You see alot of Dodger fans when they play there too, but nowhere near what the Cub fan turnout is. Maybe it’s a Cactus League thing.

I don’t know. She is very quick to right people off if it is assumed they have tarnished the game in any way. She feels Manny has tarnished the game by doing the Manny being Manny things. She doesn’t think any of her teams would sign somebody like that, but one never knows. The A’s are more in the game of selling their best, and the Braves didn’t seem to have too much problem giving up Tex.

Agreed Tru. ESPN is based in Bristol, CT. I’ve passed by there facility in my travels over the past few years. Lots of HUGE dishes. I guess it’s to kind of be expected with where they’re geographically located. If it aint Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Giants, Jets, Bruins, Rangers, or Islanders they are just second banana, and don’t get the respect that’s due.

Tru I used to live in B-town in the south central valley. I got spoiled with all the Dodger coverage between FSW, and KCAL. Whenever possible, I would drive over the grapevine to Chavez Ravine for a game. I ALWAYS tried to make an extra effort when the Giants would play there. Never made it to AT&T park to see them. It was more than twice the driving time.

vl4 ~ I don’t get to see very many Dodger games at Dodger Stadium. I’ve seen more of the games in San Francisco. My friend is a Giants fan and so we’d go whenever the Dodgers played there. I used to be their lucky charm, cause every game I went to we won. AT&T Park isn’t too bad, except for the fact you have to wear parkas in the summer. Nothing at all like beautiful Chavez Ravine.

I know I’m kind of rambling on and on tonight and I’m sorry. Just all this excitment over Maddux coming to be with us. I’ve even developed a blister on my thumb from so much “mouse” use on my computer. Who knew that chatting could cause an injury.

I know what you mean northstateblues ~ these non-baseball game days are no fun. I guess we always have ITD, though to keep us entertained – LOL!!!
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still laughing Ward Dear – too, too funny ,and then there’s your son, too – What are we going to do with you?

Good evening ITD boys and girls,
Well, we made it back from Vegas and Laughlin. And not a moment too soon; and I’m talking $-wise.

I’ve been able to see the Dodgers on and off this past week and I’ve been able to see part of games. Yesterday was something else!!! I saw them give up the lead in the top of the 9th, but I couldn’t watch the end. But we were driving and were listening to the Vegas Dodger affiliate and heard Andre’s walk-off homer!!! Andre – YOU ROCK!!! 🙂

I also heard that we may be close to get Maddux!!! I WOULD LOVE THAT!!! We went out to help our offense with Manny; getting Maddux would do wonders for our pitching staff. Enchanted: I’m with you. Maddux will be a better than average 5th starter, but what he can teach Billz and Kersh (and heck, any other pitcher we have) would be tremendous!!!

LMAO!!! Ward Dear…. It’s all in the delivery. I can’t stop laughing between what you and Beav said, and now northstateblues and the image of JP hitting a homerun from outfield – I have lost it!!! LMAO!!!!

vl4 ~ They sure do. But, he made them all their money. They built the park for him and even though I think he “used” it hasn’t been proven and I don’t think the Giants organization showed much class in not honoring him in some way. They invited him for the big 50th year celebration, thinking he wouldn’t be able to come because he was on vacation out of the country. But, surprise, he showed up!

In my opinion, Peter MacGowan should be bending over backwards shining Barry’s shoes. Think what you will of Barry, without Bonds there is no AT&T Park, no sellouts, and certainly, no San Francisco Giants, as they would’ve pulled up the tent stakes and headed for Florida.

It’s despicable that they’ve treated Barry like trash, after milking him for every drop when he was going after the record. Even more despicable is the way Giants fans haven’t stuck up for the guy who gave them at least 3 at bats to cheer about every night.

Sad. I might dislike Lo Duca and what he did while wearing blue (and Alberquerque red and gold), but he did a lot for our team, and without him, we might not have made the playoffs in ’04. I might not like it, but I admit it.

Tru That’s part of the reason I don’t have any respect, or acknowledgement for Bonds season HR record. A huge bulk of those homers went into the cove, not to mention the ‘juice’ factor. Just look at how he went from a good all around young (skinny) outfielder from his days in the Pirates to the way he bulked up to a freak with the Giants. I hope he goes to prison.

Nelly ~ It says that the Dodgers are close to deal for Maddux, but it seems to me that it doesn’t come right out and say we’ve traded for him. I don’t know; maybe I’m a little more tired from the trip than I thought.

BTW, I hear that Penny is on the DL; that’s why all this talk about Maddux is about. But I never heard; what is wrong with him again? I mean, is it just more of what was his problem before or is there something else going on? I’ve been looking for articles about that, but I haven’t seen anything. Any help from my ITD buddies would be great!!! 🙂

I hope we do close the deal for Maddux. I think it would be a good move. I must have watched the highlight of Andre’s walk off about 15 times yesterday. That was so exciting. What a week of baseball it was.

Yeah, I admit, he put alot of behinds in seats, and saved their franchise. That’s a given. But after the scandal came to light, and the Giants let him go, no team would touch him. No one wants someone elses freshly stained laundry.

Thx for the article nelly. Anyone can chime in on this but did anyone else get an e-mail from someone from the Wall Street Journal? I got one; it had Andre Ethier’s name in the subject line. Below is the e-mail I got:

Hey there,

I cover sports for the Wall Street Journal and I’m working on a story about Andre Ethier and his blog. I’d love to include a fan’s perspective – so I thought I’d email all of you who posted comments on his last entry on La Paella. If you’d be willing to chat with me briefly this week or answer a few questions via email, please let me know how best to get in touch!

Tru I have the utmost respect for Hammerin Hank. As a kid, I remember watching the All Star game every year with Hank, Willie, and Roberto in the OF. I just wish I could have been around to see Josh Gibson play in the old Negro Leagues. From every thing I’ve read, he had to be the most feared batter ever. The man was just a beast!

bluecrewgirl ~ I even showed the highlight to my class when we had a few minutes before recess this afternoon. I can’t stop watching it. It is absolutely incredible how he has pushed through this once again. He did it in spring training, and he turned around and did it again. Like you said last night, imagine where he would be now if he hadn’t been jerked around for half the season. We knew this was going to be his breakout year just based on how he did in spring training, but he faced obstacle after obstacle and never got to the stage where he wasn’t looking behind his shoulder for JP and Andruw to creep back in there. Since Manny has been here, he seems to have gotten to the point where it’s not bothering him anymore, and like he said, when he’s not in there he’s taking advantage of it as a learning experience. Just Amazing!!

vl4 ~ boy we have a lot in common. Even though I’ve always been a Dodger fan, my dad took me to a game when I was a teen to see them play the Braves in Ebbetts Field. I loved Hank, Joe Adcock and Eddie Matthews so I adopted the Milwaukee Braves as my second team. Who knew at the time the greatness of Hank Aaron. I just loved his relaxed style at the plate.

Yes, DNelly it is sad to think what could have been if he started all year, but he seems like the type of person who tries to learn and grow from these types of situations.

Trueblue, I know what you mean about expecting us to come from behind every time now. I am getting the same feeling, but I think their new found confidence is part of why they are able to come back now.

CP, I just checked my email I use for here and I didn’t have any email like the one you posted from the Wall Street Journal and I posted on his most recent blog entry.

Tru I sure miss those days of my youth. It was almost automatic for the NL to win the All Star game every year back then. I hate Selig, and his idea to make whoever wins the All Star game to get home field advantage in the World Series. I consider myself a ‘Baseball Purist.’ Even though I don’t care for interleague play during the regular season, I do realize it looks like it’s here to stay. It does put behinds in seats, and generates more revenue for the owners.

vl4 ~ I hate interleague play. I also don’t like the idea of homefield advantage. It should go to the team with the best record. I also think for the most part, the fan voting has messed up the All-Star game. Half of the time most of the starters are from the same team. That sucks. It is a popularity contest instead of who deserves to go.

“Kids are different today,”
I hear Mr. Torre say
Jo Jo needs something today to calm him down
Though there’re pitchers on the farm
He prefers a famous arm
He goes running for the shelter of a Maddux pitching helper
And it helps him on his way, gets him through him busy day

“Things are different today,”
I hear Mr. Torre say
Pitching rookies or has-beens is just a drag
So he buys a former ace and he seals the D-Backs’ fate
And goes running for the shelter of a Maddux pitching helper
And to help him on his way, get him through his busy day

Nedster please, some more of these
We need more arms, our Penny’s harmed
What a drag it is getting old

vl4 ~ What I really don’t understand is how 50,000 people going to a Dodger game everynight can’t vote in more than one player. Hey, maybe they are honest and pick the best ones. You’d think, however, they would stuff the ballot box with all Dodgers

CP, no worriies, you don’t have to forward it. I just wanted you to know that I didn’t get one in case you were trying to figure out if she was legit. I’ll be interested to hear what questions she asks you guys though. I wonder how the Wall Street Journal heard about Andre’s blog. Small world, lol.

Good valid point Tru. Prime examples were the Cubs, and Red Sox this year. Soto is good, but nowhere near the caliber of Russ. I would have been heartbroken if he didn’t get to play this year in the All Star game. He had a great game too, showing up both Soto, and McCann.

But, vl4, the Cubs and Red Sox are on all the time. For a large market, the Dodgers don’t get air time. They always talk about the Western Division as being weak. Everything is Central & East. Maybe our division is really better and more competetive. We all do pretty well against the other divisions but lose to each other. So, that proves the West is superior. LOL

Tru It’s like the same old song & dance routine for this club every year. They do well against other divisions, then the Giants, Pads, or Dbacks play spoiler down the stretch no matter how bad they’ve been all year. But, since Manny’s come aboard, they will have a tougher time this year…………I HOPE!

Josh – Thanks for all the insight and work you do. That auction package sounds amazing. Somebody is going to get their money’s.

Quick question.

When do the Dodgers start interviewing for entry-level front office jobs and/or internships for the upcoming 2009 season? My dream is to work for the Dodgers front office. I currently attend college and will be majoring in Sports Management. Just so you know I am very serious about this! 😛

Re. Maddux

I’ve been hearing it will be for two players, probably PTBNL. They obviously won’t trade McDonald for them, and the Dodgers were in discussions with the Pads before the trade deadline but the Pads didn’t like the prospect we were dangling. I don’t know if this means we gave in to Towers or they gave into us, but if its 2 low level players with no upside, you have to love this deal as a Dodger fan! Lowe really picked up his game when Maddux came aboard in 06. I can’t imagine some of the things he will teach Bills and Kershaw. And even if he doesn’t, just him being around those young guys can’t hurt.

P.S. I custom made a Maddux jersey to wear to game 4 of the NLDS against the Mets in ’06, but we know what happened there 😦
Hopefully they pull this deal off so I can finally wear this bad boy!!!

Yeah, nelly. I can breathe again! LOL! Although I wasn’t ever going to get it for that price, boy if I did it would have worth the wrath of my better half. She wouldn’t divorce me over it, I don’t think.

Been working on the NASCAR thing and I keep checking for a leak of those two minor leaguers. I’ll be back later.

My friend is not going to be happy about this trade. She really thought he wouldn’t come back to LA. Her hope is that he, Glavine and Smoltz retire this year so they can go into the Hall of Fame Together.

Wow! The Ethierholic Nation getting a shoutout from the Wall Street Journal!! And Dre is definitely on top of things. It’s awesome to see the nation realize that Ethier is a force to be reckoned with.

I’m only 27, but I consider myself a baseball purist. I live in a house with two AL fans, and whenever they make a comment about the AL “Being better”, I tell them “Yeah, ’cause they play ______ T-Ball!!! We play for reals in the NL, EVERY player comes up to bat.” Of course, one of them doesn’t like bunting either, so… what can I say?

Jeff Kent’s comments have earned him back his old Giants nickname from me. I won’t repeat it here, since it’s really base-level crude, it’s amazing what a little vowel shift can do.

Nevertheless, he is an important part of his team, and having a mouthy vet hitting .500 in the 3 hole the last few weeks is a problem to have. But I’m never calling him Jeff Kent again, I’ll tell you that.

Maybe in “honor” of his “some guy on TV” refernece to Vin, I’ll call him “Some guy on second base” in here, or “Some Guy” for short.

“I’m not worried,” Torre said before the opener of the Phillies series, when the Dodgers sat a game below .500 and 1 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks. “Maybe I should be worried, but worrying is not going to do me any good. Besides, the team’s playing hard. I’m not defending our record, I’m just defending the effort. I think this team’s getting better.”

A week later, Torre’s patience seemed justified. The Dodgers swept the Phillies, took two of three from the Brewers, and Manny trimmed his dreadlocks.

Simultaneously, the Yankees were losing five of six to the Angels and Twins, and Hank Steinbrenner was polishing up the old concession speech.

Sara, I hear you there. I have an acquaintance who is a Yankees fan, and sometimes she acts as if they’ve never won before. Won’t talk baseball when her team’s doing bad, and will not hear one word of the DH destroying the game, because if the Yankees have it, it has always been and will always be.

people who “root” for their team like that have a long, hard life of disappoinment in store. Even if the Yanks win 26 this century too, that’s 74 seasons of sourpuss.

I think that Kent is a very proud person who is letting his ego get in the way of the truth of the matter. I’m sure that he doesn’t want to think that he owes his hot streak to Ramirez’ presence and he sure isn’t going to admit it to anyone. I think that his temper probably got the better of him and he ended up saying things that he wished he could rephrase.

Yeah eric, that part was funny! I think Some Guy has some leftover issues from his days in San Fran hearing he was good because he hit ahead of Barry. Maybe he moved to get away from that, and now, lo and behold, here it comes again!

And yeah, T.J. isn’t exactly Pulitzer Prize winning material. But he’d be risking his career if he made up quotes. Kent had to have said that stuff, maybe tongue in cheek, but that’s like calling the Pope a Nazi in the Notre Dame school newspaper, then after enjoying the shock on the reporter’s face, saying “Well, he WAS a member of the Hitler youth…”

northstateblues ~ knowing how Kent felt about Barry, I kind of thought he might have similar issues with Manny, not that I am comparing Manny to Barry,but I can see Kent doing that. Even my husband, who is a Giants fan, never really cared for him, and after seeing a few interviews with him as a Dodger, he sees that maybe the issues weren’t all Barry’s fault.

And what does that fat old geezer know?!!! “You’ve gotta play for the name on front of the jersey”, what kind of crap is that?!!! I don’t bleed blue, I bleed RED!!! Jeez, some people are out of touch with the game these days…

I think with Kent some of it’s pride, but doesn’t it kind of go back to the entitlement issue. Somehow, in the last few years the vets in the clubhouse have always felt they were entitled to certain treatment. However, with Manny, he seems to be giving to the young players as much as they are taking from him. I know he has had his issues with Manny being Manny, but I have yet to hear him say anything negative about one of the young players.

I don’t ever believe what TJ writes in his column. He likes to stir things up. For entertainment purposes, he will write anything. Why surround Jeff Kent with all this garbage? He’s doing well batting where he is batting so whatever reason that is, so what?? Have any of you actually spoken to Jeff? He is a very nice but quiet guy. After all the flack that came out of supposed comments that he made last season, why would he tell TJ anything? Why would anyone tell TJ anything? Stupid or something? I have spoken to Jeff before and I found him to be very warm and kind. Anyone else have any encounters with Jeff? So why believe someone who likes to stretch the truth for a good laugh at someones expense?

I’m a little sad that there are only 15 home games left of the regular season!! Where did the time go? I hope for the post season. Let’s just all rally around our guys for the rest of the time and let the controversies go. I love all of them. They are human and have their weaknesses and idiosyncracies as we do. We also are not perfect. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. I know we all love Russell, Matty, Andre and James. Let’s share the love and include Mark, Andruw and Pierre, etc. They also are Dodgers. IMO we should support all of them. GO DODGERS!! Beat the Rocks! I’ll be there to root them on.

northstateblues ~ I hope so too. I don’t have any major problems with Jeff, and he has been doing very well lately, whichever the reason. Let him think what he wants if that’s what is helping him get the job done. right?

xox, many of us admitted that it’s tj and that things are probably twisted around but you still can’t quote something that didn’t come out of someone’s mouth. as a true dodger fan, you have to appreciate vin scully. i feel that the things kent “said” were disrespectful. i didn’t say kent was a bad guy, and i’d be one of the first to tell you that i believe he’s misunderstood more than most.. but you can’t tell me that just because i’ve never spoken to him directly that i can’t interpret what he’s quoted as saying. and i might be mistaken, but i’m pretty sure you called us all stupid for being negative about kent in this sense. i really don’t think you should be getting on people FOR THEIR OPINIONS.

Quotes don’t lie. I’m not saying that TJ follows anything approaching journalistic integrity, but if anybody calling themselves a member of the media falsifies quotes, they’re eating Ramen for the rest of their lives, and not the good Japanese kind, the freeze-dried 10-for-a-dollar kind.

Why even joke about anything like that? Vin Scully is held in such high regard, he had to have known that even if his intention was to share a tongue-in-cheek inside joke with a pain-in-the-butt pseudo-reporter, he risked ticking off a world of Dodger fans who’ve had a lot more invested interest than someone that will spend 4-7 years in that jersey.

I don’t know Jeff, I’ll probably never get a chance to meet him. I don’t think I have to in order to come away with some understanding of what went on. TJ is annoying, TJ annoyed the crap out of Dodger in the locker room, Dodger bloww his top, TJ pressed record, TJ went home to his typewriter and played around with the quotes a little. He’s done it to Lasorda in the 80’s, he’s still doing it today.

But as a veteran who has been around this block many times, Kent should’ve known better than to fall for the old Simers bait-and-switch. And no matter if he was joking or not, he should not have sullied the name of Vin Scully, making him come off as some Armchair Quarterback. And he definitely should not expect to come away from those quotes without drawing the ire of Dodger fans everywhere. That “some guy” has seen greater men than Jeff Kent do a lot worse than land one of Baseball’s greatest hitters in history midseason and see fastball after fastball.

Jeff Kent is Cooperstown-tier talent. He should’ve known better than to sink to Simers level, let alone question the intelligence of one of the great Ambassadors of the sport just because he has a bit of an ego.

“He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche

Please, Sara, I would never call the wonderful people on this blog stupid. I’m just commenting about all the negative folks that love to stir things up when things are going so great eg TJ. Sometimes I read his articles and just laugh out loud because he is so ridiculous. How can anyone actually say this stuff to someone who will turn around and publish it?? That’s what I’m calling stupid! No one would do this with half a mind. After all that was said last year about Jeff, why would he throw more fuel into the fire by making such comments. That would be counterproductive. The Dodgers are doing so great, working together as a team, why let TJ put a damper on our celebration. That’s what I’m saying. Sorry if my comments were taken any other way.:(.

When I actually did have a chance to speak to future hall of famer Jeff Kent last season, I was surprised at his humility. I was, of course, in awe of him and told him that he was the best player on the team. He gave me a broad smile and winked and said, “Sometimes.” That stuck in my mind. 🙂 I did not find him to be surly or sullen as some people think he is…that is, TJ. He is quiet but his smile lights up a room. I, in my heart, cannot believe he would say anything about our Vinny. But then, that’s IMO. I like Jeff so I feel obligated just to let everyone know how I feel. But I do respect everyones opinion. That’s why we have this blog. But in case our guys are reading this blog, I want them to know that we do support them. GO DODGERS.

Good morning ITD land ~ Miss Debbie, I’m going to tell your students that you were up at 2:00 am. I know you’re a nightowl, so just kidding. I’m going to have to try to stay up with you guys. It sounded like a lot of fun from what I read.
Have a good day.

Good Morning ITD writers and readers!!
It’s morning music time!! I couldn’t help it!! I picture JP sitting in his corner of the dugout with all those “thought bubbles” Obi has given him, and all he wants to do is play.
.
Song: Please Play Me
Original Song: Dance With Me
By: Orleans
.
Please play me, I want to be your lead off
Can’t you see the game is just starting?
Night is falling and I am pouting
Please play me
.
Fantasy could never be so giving
I can see, I hope that ‘Dre is failing
Put my bat up, and put my speed up
Please play me
.
‘Dre just hit one out again
Starry eyes, and love is all around
I can’t take them where they want to go
.
Please play me, I want to be your lead off
Can’t you see the game is just starting?
Night is falling and I am pouting
Please play me
.
Fantasy could never be so giving
I can see, I hope the ‘Dre is failing
Put my arm up, and put my speed up
Please play me
.
‘Dre is lifted off the ground
Starry eyes, and love is all around
I can’t take you where you want to go
.
Please play me, I want to be your lead off
Can’t you see the game is just starting?
Night is falling and I am pouting
Please play me
.
Please play me
.
Please play me

LOL!!! Bravo Nelly. Also great songs Obi, Crash, Kahli, and Eric. I enjoyed them. It is very exciting to have Maddux back. I am very curious to see who we send to the Puds. As far as Kent, probably not wise to make negative comments about Vin. Kent being Kent, probably a bit overblown.

Good Morning, jhall!!! Thanks, and yes, It will be fantastic to have Maddux on this team.
.
trublue ~ I was writing the song while blogging and downloading Andre’s “Before the Bigs” onto my computer. I was multi-tasking, very well I must say. I took a nap when I got home yesterday from school, so by the time I came on around 8ish, I was ready to go.

Good Morning, Enchanted/Beav – thanks for the LMAO’s last night – That one,two punch by you and your father was really swell. I laughed about that for hours, and I don’t think it’s going to escape my mind anytime soon.
.
Good Morning, Ward Dear ~ glad to see you got a good night’s rest. Is the sheriff still out of town today?

Mom, Titania’s orbit is more like a comets’ than a moon. It spends most of its time way out there in outer space, shivering and collecting space dust. But when it gets close to us it can cause a lot of havoc in a short period of time. Jhall taught me that if you just turn your back on dirt clods like Titania, they go away quickly and you can go about your business.

June darlin’, nice song! Seems like it’s been a while since you churned one out. Oooo………just got a notion……..

On the Jeft Kent thing, you know Simers took quotes or parts of quotes out of context for his own amusement. Kent doesn’t strike me as being a dullard (though he did talk to Simers), and I’m sure some if not all of what he said was tongue in cheek. Doesn’t totally excuse him, but its not anything I can get myself worked up about either.

Someone way up above asked who’s playing 2B next year. Here’s my guess:
.
3. Orlando Hudson (longshot if they sign Manny or CC)
.
2. Blake DeWitt
.
1. Jeff Kent (Unless he gets his ring this year and rides off into the sunset, and especially if they sign Manny, JoJo is going to want at least a few vets. So without a clear-cut better option, Kent will be back.)

enchanted ~ I read where they are giving DeWitt playing time at 2nd. So, that certainly is a possibility. Boy, wouldn’t Hudson be great. CC pitching so many innings right now, he even stayed in the game last night with a huge lead, that if the Brewers make the playoffs, he might be worn out.

I’d like to see DeWitt get a shot at 2nd. Guess that depends on resigning Casey Blake. I could see Ned and company resigning Nomar to play 2nd. Alot will depend on Ferk also. Should be an interesting off season for sure. Hope we are glowing from a division title and hopefully some playoff success. LOL!!!

Hey, does anyone really think that JP is part of the Maddux deal? It wouldn’t make sense if you’re the Puds UNLESS the second player is a prospect like McDonald (a bribe to take JP.) That I assume would also mean that the Puds take on most of JP’s contract. Just a wild thought.

I’m also wondering if the D’s management is going all-out for it this year because they know they’ll have so many holes next year they might not have a shot.

We can dream Beav!! I liked your idea of paying most of Phews’ contract and dumping him on one of our division rivals. It is like paying to make them weaker, so the money is not truely wasted. LOL!!!!
Nomars’ contract is up after this year Tru.

Great eric! I think the more we talk about it and hope for it, IT WILL REALLY HAPPEN. I think Juan wants out, after all it was said last night that he is changing his batting style so he can hit homers like Andre LOL

Jhall ~ It is the Giants’ way of operating. So, I will pray for a miracle. There might even be a team out there who doesn’t see us play much (you know we don’t get much national coverage, since we’re on the West coast) would feel JP will fit right in with their plans. Yea, sure!

Manny Ramirez, Casey Blake and now Greg Maddux — not a bad trading season for the Dodgers, especially considering that the team is paying Ramirez and Blake virtually nothing and Maddux only part of his remaining salary.

The deal for Maddux has not yet been announced, but it is close to complete, according to major-league sources. The Dodgers and Padres will divide the pitcher’s remaining $2.3 million salary, one source says, though the exact split is not known.

If the Dodgers want to live on welfare, that’s their prerogative, even as a high-revenue club. But I’ve got one question, a question that begs for an answer, a question that will haunt the Dodgers if they fail to win the NL West.

Why didn’t they block Adam Dunn?

The Dodgers certainly had the chance to prevent Dunn from going to the Diamondbacks, the team they are tied with for first place in the division. At the time the Reds put Dunn on waivers, the Dodgers had a worse record than the D’backs, giving them priority in the claiming process.

Yet, the Dodgers failed to place a claim on Dunn, awarding a “Get out of jail free” card to the Diamondbacks’ sagging offense. And Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, bound by the supposed confidentiality of the waiver process, can’t tell us why.

The only plausible explanation is that the Dodgers feared getting stuck with Dunn’s remaining salary — about $3.5 million. But if that was indeed the reason, then it’s fair to ask just how obsessed the Dodgers have become with the bottom line — and just how much they are being compromised by their financial restrictions.

The Dodgers had to know the Diamondbacks might pursue Dunn, the D- Backs’ interest in him before the July 31 non-waiver deadline was widely reported by various outlets.

The Dodgers also had to know that the Reds were not simply going to dump Dunn, not when Cincinnati stood to receive two high draft picks as compensation if the outfielder left as a free agent.

No, the Reds wanted a significant return, and they got it from the D- backs — three players for less than two months of Dunn. To secure that package, the Reds also agreed to pay half of Dunn’s remaining salary.

None of it should ever have happened. The Dodgers should have claimed Dunn and then offered nothing for him, forcing the Reds to pull him back and remove him from further trade consideration.

The addition of Maddux will help the Dodgers, who can plug him into their rotation for injured right-hander Brad Penny. The team, which also is without injured closer Takashi Saito, can now move Chan Ho Park to the bullpen. Other bullpen options include Class AAA righty James McDonald and even Penny if he recovers from shoulder trouble by the end of the season.

Still, imagine how much larger the Dodgers’ competitive advantage would be if they had acquired Ramirez, Blake and Maddux and kept the D-Backs from getting Dunn.

The truth is, the Dodgers already might have blown it — for this season and beyond. When they required cash from their trading partners, they were forced to give up better prospects in return.

For Ramirez, the Dodgers parted with third baseman Andy LaRoche and Class A right-hander Bryan Morris. For Blake, the price was Class A catcher Carlos Santana and Class AAA reliever John Meloan. The package for Maddux is not yet known.

The Dodgers will not miss any of the players they traded short-term; they might not miss any of them, period. But Santana, in particular, is not the type of prospect teams move for two months of Casey Blake.

Maybe Dodgers owner Frank McCourt did not want to increase his initial payroll of $118.6 million, the game’s seventh largest at the start of the season.

Maybe McCourt no longer trusts Colletti after the general manager’s ill-advised signings of right-hander Jason Schmidt and outfielders Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones.

Or maybe McCourt is simply cash-poor.

In today’s game, young players represent their own form of currency. High-revenue clubs such as the Yankees and Red Sox protect such players fiercely. But the Dodgers, at least in certain instances, would rather have cash.

Granted, the Dodgers have retained their top young major leaguers — Kershaw, Matt Kemp, James Loney. But Santana, for goodness sake, is batting .331 with a .431 on-base percentage, 38 doubles, 18 homers and 107 RBIs in his combined stints for the Dodgers and Indians at Class A.

Yes, the Dodgers control their All-Star catcher, Russell Martin, for four more seasons. Yes, they boast another good catching prospect, Lucas May, at Class AA. Yes, they will receive two premium draft picks if they lose Blake as a free agent, and maybe find another Santana that way.

Some with the Indians, however, view Santana as an even better prospect than Class AA outfielder Matt LaPorta, the marquee player that Cleveland received in the CC Sabathia trade. Quality catchers are scarce. If the Dodgers had kept Santana, they could have used him in a bigger deal later or eventually moved Martin to third base.

If the Dodgers win the division and play deep into the postseason, their fans will give as little thought to Santana as they do to Ramirez’s disgraceful exit in Boston. But the NL West race is not over, even though the Dodgers are on the verge of trading for their second Hall of Famer in three weeks.

Jungar ~ Quite an interesting post today. The feeling about Dunn is that he strikes out too much. I understand your reasoning to block the deal but, he isn’t a very good fundamental player, either. Is that what you think, too?

Personally, I don’t know the rules for the waiver wire. I know they’re complicated. If the Dodgers did block Dunn, does that make them obligated to him in some way? I know it didn’t work that way with Belliard, but I also know there’s different kinds of waivers. If it didn’t obligate them to Dunn, I’d like to know why they didn’t block him. Perhaps someone here who is up on the rules (and I know there are a few) might explain it.

As always, an insightful analysis from jungar. I agree that picking Dunn from waivers did not need to become an acquisition on our part, but would have blocked his trade to our main competitor. Strategically we goofed in that respect.

Maintaining “salary neutrality” I feel is a well deserved indictment of Colletti. Frank is probably adding up the millions wasted on both Pierre and Andruw having to sit uselessly on the bench, and Schmidt not likely to throw again, period. That’s just for starters. Why would you want this GM to be able to spend another dollar? Given those circumstances, Frank should have bitten the bullet and let Ned GO. He cannot be trusted with evaluating talent, nor making any significant trade, and I hope he’s gone at the end of the season, regardless of where we wind up.

Ned – the totally worthless excuse of a GM, the total piece of crap, pure garbage of management non-talent, and many other descriptions that I’ll refrain from using in case Nelly decides to let her class have access to this blog.

I thought about that too Jungar and came to the conclusion that they don’t think that Dunn makes any significance in upgrading their offense. He’ll maybe pop a handful of home runs, but he Ks a tremendous amount and isn’t even a .240 hitter. His D is also sub-average.

eric ~ the waiver wire is very complicated. It is said that almost everyone is put out there and, apparently, the worst teams get first crack at the player. That’s why the Rays had trouble geting anyone when they suffered all those injuries. Boston & the Yankees kept blocking any person they were intersted in — didn’t actually have to take them either, just prevented another team from getting him. Sometimes, a team just wants to see what they can get in return and, I don’t think a team has to actually take a player, but can just block the move. Now I’m really confused, are you?

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Dunn for 2 months plus 2 high draft picks is easily worth $3.5M. Bottom line is we were just stupid. Even i it mean benching Loney for theyear as crazy as that sounds. 32 bombs, 75rbi behind manny. (.233 av, .380OBP, .901 OPS)

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He would have more impact than Maddux will. For 1.5 mill more and w get 2 picks. jus having him and AZ not is worth it.
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rob neyer espn:

And second, what happens if the Dodgers beat out the Diamondbacks? By most reasonable definitions, Maddux is now the Dodgers’ fifth-best starting pitcher. Would management bump him from the rotation in October, in favor of 20-year-old Clayton Kershaw? Probably not, and that might actually be a stroke of genius. Before this season, Kershaw had never thrown more than 122 innings in one season. Right now, he’s at 134 and counting. Figure seven more starts and he’s up to 170-175 innings, which is about the most you’d want to see him throwing this year.

I wonder if the possible acquisition of Maddux isn’t designed, at least in part, to save Kershaw’s arm?.

With all this talking…long interesting messages by JUNGAR….Pierre wants out or not….Ethier plays or not…Manny long or short…..Maddux….Dunn…who is in and who is out…song by DODGERERIC (great job)….MARTIN not doing so good…..this all confusing for me…and I just hope that players are not confused and can get their head straight and play well. This SEASON has been full of DRAMA good and bad! And I just wish the DODGER’S good luck and they better win the Division

Stroke of genius – Ned??? Rob Neyer should be flogged for even suggesting that. I don’t think management could even fathom that idea, let alone implement it. I also don’t think they think that far ahead. I’m pretty sure they saw Penny out and didn’t want to rely on Johnson and Stults down the stretch. If they really did do it to save Kersh’s arm, then they’re a helluva lot more insightful than I’ve ever given them credit for.

No worries..but they gotta be worried about his arm, otherwise bonehead Joe wouldn’t have taken him out the other day with 8o pitches thrown right? anyhow, i don’t take it snarky at all, no worries..

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(most long posts by me are not me, its linked but i forget the links sometimes) with a 9month old,i can only sneak in quick post, thats why i dont post good stuff as much as last year..(good stuff meaning my own opinion andanylaysis, sorta like LEE FINK always does..)

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*** the cubs. this is from a cubs paper (tribune) i hope we face them.

Greg Maddux looks like he’s going back to the Dodgers, and that’s just fine with the Cubs if it helps Los Angeles win the dogbreath NL West title instead of dreaded Arizona. You can pitch around Manny Ramirez; you can’t sneak around Brandon Webb and Dan Haren.

We handled the Cubs pretty well, even before Manny. And, if history holds true, the Cubs won’t even win their division. Even if they get in via wildcard, they will be eliminated in the first round — can’t take the pressure. So, instead of worrying about whether they play us or the Dbacks, they should worry about themselves.

Actually, I’m not sure if we handled the Cubs well or not. I just think we are a much better team than anyone is giving us credit for, and we do have Manny and Maddux and Andre, etc. Billz & Kershaw will be ready for the playoffs.

Don’t get all snarky on the Cubs. They have all that World Series experience to work from.

And e, don’t get all snarky with Ned either. He could do something smart. My daddy used to tell me that even a blind hog will find an acorn once in a while. Usually after I did something good. (hmmmmm……..)

And one time I hit a 3-wood to within 3 feet of the pin from 250 yards out.

Why does it remind me of Forrest Gump? “That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I’d just run across the great state of Alabama. And that’s what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going.”

I dislike Pierre as much as the next guy around here does but I really hope he is not the one traded, right now there isnt a fourth outfielder, and I like Pierre as a late inning pinch hitter when the pitchers spot is due up because if he gets on he can ge tinto scoring position.

Good Afternoon ITD writers and readers!!
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Sorry jungar ~ I always love reading your posts but I only have a 45 minute lunch. I will get back to you on yours.
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eric/Ward Dear – wonderful video – thank you!!!
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Ajay – Great Article!!!
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enchanted/Beav ~ If JP is the one traded (I know, he’s not) then I can picture him coming out just like he always looks, grumpy and mopey.
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Nelly, nells, nelle, June Darlin’, Junie 🙂 ,mom, Miss Debbie and Mrs. Nelson ~ all ethieraholics

Hey everyone, an update from the 51’s game last night. Andruw hit 2 solo homers, DY did not do much. If we sent out Pierre… which will not happen, the Padres are trying to free up salary, not take it on. I’m guessing these will be 2 mid level prsopects. I’m still extremely excited about the trade, and can’t wait to get Maddux in the clubhouse and on the mound. Great addition, hopefully next year we can keep him on this time, unless he retires. The guy would make an awesome pitching coach also.

My 2 cents on the deal with Dunn, I’m not afaraid of Adam Dunn at all, the guy does have great power, but that’s it. He does not hit for average, he does not have a good glove, he’s never been a part of a winning team. I don’t really think he helps the D-Backs over the hurdle and into the division winner. I honestly really like our chances, especially with our new additions. The D-Backs still have some more difficult games, we’ve gone through a pretty rough patch as far as the schedule goes, and we did great. Let’s just keep it up.

Hey Trublue, yeah, haha, no kidding, it’d be great to pay the Puds to take him off of our hands. I just don’t see it happening. I really wonder where this leaves Pierre for next year and there after. With Ethier clearly taking over right field, Kemp in center, and if they resign Manny, and that still leaves Andruw for one more season also…. Just going to make for a very interesting offseason.

I know Brandon, paying someone to take a player will probably not happen. But then again, we have done some strange things, haven’t we? At least with Andruw as a pinch hitter, he does have some pop if he ever connects and, can at least play the outfield if necessary.

A space for Maddux will be needed on both the 25- and 40-man rosters. 40-man is easy, probably move Scott Proctor to the 60-day DL. He’s just a few days short of having missed 60 days anyway and (I think) he hasn’t started rehab yet. For the 25-man, I assume a pitcher will be moved.
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Other options:
DFA Sturtze or Johnson for both spots
Option Stults for 25-man space
Option Troncoso for 25-man space
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Sept 1 – when rosters can expand – is only 13 days away. I imagine LA will want to keep alternatives in play and close few doors, so I’m guessing they’ll go low risk, keep everyone and make moves with Proctor and Stults.
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Sept 1 is also when I expect Jones and Young to return, barring further injuries to other players.

eric ~ I don’t know if you are on here, but a quick funny you will enjoy. I always start out the year by letting the students decorate their own jerseys. I didn’t give any guidelines other than be creative. I am trying not to influence yet. Anyhow, one of the little girls says “I’m doing mine Chargers colors, blue and yellow” – It’s going to be a great year!!!!
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June Darlin’, Junie – ethieraholic

Waiver rules:
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After July 31, a player on the 40-man has to clear waivers to be traded. Players are usually put on revocable waivers first. If no other team claims him, he can be traded. If teams claim:
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– First, teams in the same league have priority (e.g., Dunn couldn’t get to the AL unless no NL team claimed him)
– Then teams with the worst record at that time get priority (e.g., the Dodgers trailed AZ when Dunn was waived, their claim would be honored before AZ’s.)
– The original team can: 1. work a trade with the claiming team (e.g., Reds / Dbacks for Dunn), 2. hand the player AND HIS CONTRACT over to the claiming team and receive nothing (e.g., when the A’s did to pawn Loaiza off on Colletti), 3. pull the player back from revocable waivers.
– If the original team pulls the player back (3., above), he cannot be placed on revocable waivers again. He could be put on irrevocable waivers by the original team, which is essentially a release, with a claiming team taking on the contract, or with him going unclaimed and becoming an FA, but the original team on the hook for the old contract.

P.S. By rule, the P(s)TBNL in the Maddux trade cannot be current members of the 25-man roster. Often a PTBNL in a later August trade stays to finish his minor-league season (in early Sept.), then is named. On the other hand, last year it was 8/9 when Sweeney was acquired for a PTBNL or cash, and it was 8/27 when the PTBNL became Travis Denker.

From Dodger Thoughts:
The exact phrasing from the Dodgers’ official Greg Maddux announcement:
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“The Los Angeles Dodgers today announced that they have re-acquired right-handed pitcher Greg Maddux and cash considerations from the San Diego Padres for two minor league players to be named later or cash considerations.”

Okay I have to get this off my chest since the Dodgers seemingly like to torture their fans each and everyday when September rolls around.

I have been a life-long Dodger fan for since I cam out of the womb and I have loved them through the good and bad… and let’s face it the bad has been REAL BAD lately!

So here it goes: This TEAM is an absolute joke! The manager is terrible. I have no idea how he won in New York but he is just not cut out to be a small ball National league manager. For example, Last night we had 3 lead off doubles and not one time did the runner advance on a bunt. We are struggling to score runs and all the manager can do is call for a swing away? No manufacturing runs? What is going on?

I despise Matt Kemp. He is one of the most talented baseball players I have ever seen. His skills are so ridiculous that he can lag around the bases, make mistakes (fundamental mistakes) and still get away with not everyone knowing he never tries his hardest! For example, Last night with the bases loaded and the team scratching for a much needed comeback to get back to within two games, Kemp goes up in the count 1-0 after the pitcher just walked two batters and all he can do is be impatient and fly out on a lazy fly ball to left. No working the count, waiting for that pitch to hit. I understand he is only 24 but he has no confidence in his game on the field and way too much confidence in his game off the field.

The kids this year are making me so angry! They are all so talented and their is still no chemistry in the dug out! It is so ridiculous. They even brought in Manny Ramirez to looks to be having fun all f the time. Why can’t they make this game about having a good time? They just seem to play like it’s a job not a privilege.

I absolutely despise Jeff Kent and all of the negative he brings to the team. He is so old school and never smiles or has any fun. Retire Jeff. Your done. You make everyone around you miserable! And YES!!! You were hitting better because MANYY was in back of you in the lineup…just like, I hate to say this name but Barry Bonds did when you had your best years.

I can’t believe that this team still has no intensity after Ned Colletti has bent over backwards to make it better. Manny is in your lineup now and all you can do is lose!

Get Matt Kemp out of the lineup and put Juan Pierre back in… at least he is 100% effort all of the time! I am so sad and frustrated when I watch them play. With all that talent they all possess and they just seem like they go through the motions. I hope we lose all of the rest of our games this season. I hope we don’t make the playoffs because this team doesn’t deserve to be in Major League Baseball. I love the Dodgers but our organization is in shambles, we have ungrateful, under achieving kids and old salty veterans that still think they are good because they hit 250 all year. We need to gut this team next year and start from scratch. Goodbye to joe, goodbye to kemp, kent, maddux, lowe, penny, nomar, etc. All under achievers and all a complete disgrace to the game of baseball. I am not a front runner (Jimmy Rollins) I am a fan that knows baseball more than anybody on this page and I know this team is one of the biggest disappointments I have ever seen in all my 25 years!

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